What this profile means
- Reactive + somatic + avoider — triggered by things that are actually happening, not by things that might.
- Shows up strongly in your body: racing heart, chest tightness, dizziness, tunnel vision, urgent need to leave.
- You cope by escaping: leaving early, sitting near exits, driving separately so you can bail.
- This pattern is often panic-adjacent or panic-disorder territory. It responds unusually well to exposure-based therapy.
Where you shine
- Highly attuned to your physical state
- You leave situations others force themselves to endure
- Once safe, you recover relatively quickly
Where it costs you
- Growing list of situations you've stopped attempting
- Physical symptoms sometimes mistaken for cardiac events
- A shrinking sense of what feels safe
Take the full assessment to get your severity band
Reading this profile tells you the pattern. The 3-minute assessment tells you the severity — whether you're in the range where clinical care is warranted, or where self-directed tools are enough. It also matches you to a specific next step calibrated to both.
What tends to help The Escapers
The specific approaches most researched-supported for this profile. Not a treatment plan — a real conversation-starter with a licensed clinician.
Exposure therapy
The evidence-based first-line treatment for panic-adjacent and phobic presentations. Uncomfortable and reliably works.
CBT for panic disorder
Specifically designed for the reactive-somatic pattern. Includes interoceptive exposure (deliberately triggering the physical sensations to reduce their alarm value).
Medication for the physical intensity
Short-term or ongoing SSRI can lower the baseline arousal enough for exposure work to feel possible.
Sharing this profile
If this profile resonates and you want to send it to someone who might see themselves in it:
Not sure this is you?
The 3-minute assessment will tell you which of the 8 profiles most closely matches your specific pattern, plus your severity band on the clinically-validated GAD-7 scale.